I met a French couple who’d been camping in southern Chile.
“Español?”
“Si,” he smiled.
We talked as my new friends shared their Patagonian photos
of diving whales and ice-blue glaciers.
My high school Spanish teacher would be proud. I was USING
what he had taught. I can close my eyes and see him. Moderate height, slim with
coal black hair and a warm face.
“Speak from the front of your mouth. Blow air across your
lips. Make a sound like this,” he’d demonstrate. He’d fold a sheet of paper into a fan, then jot down verb
endings on each pleat. “Here’s a quick way to memorize conjugations.”
Mr. Mariani’s encouragement and patience worked well with
high school students, but I remember it even now, as I use the language he taught me to love.
It’s never too late to practice what we began learning long
ago.
***
Are you struggling to learn something new? Your thoughts?
